


Just Accept Me

by BetterYouThanMe



Series: Harry Potter Drabbles [13]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU, Death Eater Percy Weasley, Fred Weasley Lives, Mentions of Blood, Percy is tortured by Bellatrix
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-27
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-05-14 07:33:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14765300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BetterYouThanMe/pseuds/BetterYouThanMe
Summary: Percy Weasley is dragged into becoming a Death Eater. During his time serving the Dark Lord Percy tries to subtly betray Voldemort.*Percy is tortured and beaten a few times. Blood is mentioned but it isn't too graphic just things mentioned in passing.





	Just Accept Me

Percy Weasley never thought he'd end up in a situation like this, but here he was. He sat next to a bunch of masked people, at a long mahogany table that was worth more than his entire house combined. Well, his childhood home that was. He wasn't allowed to go back. Not now. Not ever.

The swirling image on his left arm solidified that. But Percy was smart and he knew what he was doing. He knew he was playing a dangerous game and the outcome may not justify the means he went through to get there.

He did what he had to in order to survive. During a war, the lines of right and wrong blur because if they didn't, no one would come out alive. Percy knew this. His family already hated him so it didn't matter if he disappeared to join the other side.

He certainly wouldn't have joined the Death Eaters if he really had a choice.

* * *

Percy strived for perfection, which is why he poured his everything into working at the Ministry. His boss appreciated him more than anyone at home did. Naturally, he would work to impress someone who  _cared_. Not that his parents didn't care about him. He knew they did, but they had other pressing matters to worry about. Like the war.

Most people didn't believe Voldemort had returned and Percy wasn't sure himself. His parents believed a fourteen-year-old child about the rise of an evil mastermind. Percy was much smarter than that. Frankly, he was insulted that they trusted Harry so much.

So, Percy went to work every day while some people snuck away to hide in whatever hole they picked. They probably thought they could hide under a rock and the whole war would blow over them. Percy thought they were pathetic. But he didn't really mind since he had to pick up their work. It gave him a better chance at impressing his boss.

It meant he saw more paperwork than before, and some of it had some very interesting information about the Ministry. Information that a certain someone would  _kill_  to get.

* * *

His flat wasn't in the best condition but Percy wasn't too worried. It was a place to live and the neighborhood wasn't awful. He knew basic spells that would protect him in the event that someone actually tried to mug him. Several of the muggings reported recently happened around where he resided.

So, when a strange man dressed in black approached him one evening after work, Percy reached into his coat for his wand. It was dark enough that the man might think it was a gun and get discouraged.

Percy didn't expect the man to have his own wand, nor did he think he'd get knocked unconscious within seconds.

* * *

The smell was horrible. Percy tried to distinguish it but failed miserably. His nose kept picking up fresh food mixed in with the damp, rotted wood smell. And the food he smelt wasn't anything ordinary; it seemed exquisite from what he could sense.

He also heard several voices every now and then but hadn't actually seen anyone. He couldn't tell how long he had been there. And he certainly didn't know how long his stay would be. Percy assumed he might not get the chance to leave.

"Get the boy," a shrill voice called.

Percy suspected that he might be the "boy" in question. It was a bit insulting considering he was almost 20 years old.

Someone grabbed him by the arm and dragged him up the flight of stairs. A mask covered their face and robes disguised their body. The person was shorter than him but he couldn't discern by how much.

"Ah." Percy came face to face with the person who owned the shrill voice. "Here is our guest."

She was a petite woman and her hair made up most of her height. Percy had trouble focusing on anything other than her wild hair. She started to circle him like a vulture does with road kill.

"Interesting," she mused. "He'll do."

"Do what?" Percy asked. He immediately regretted his decision in speaking.

The woman gave him a glare that chilled him to the bone. "Whatever we tell you to do, dear."

Percy figured out that the use of "dear" wasn't supposed to be taken affectionately. He stared at her more before the realization came. He recognized the wild look in her eyes, her unruly hair, the shrillness of her voice. Percy Weasley was standing toe to toe with Bellatrix Lestrange.

He had heard his parents whisper about her late at night when Neville's parents were attacked. Percy wouldn't have been much older than five but he remembered it clear as day. All he had wanted was a glass of water but he was met with a harrowing tale about an evil woman. He had nightmares about her for weeks but he had been too proud to tell his parents he was eavesdropping. They just assumed that he was going through a phase of common nightmares.

He never thought his biggest fear from when he was five would become a reality.

* * *

They forced him to steal information from the Ministry. They threatened his family. They broke his spirit, pushed him into a fraction of his former self.

Percy Weasley had become Voldemort's play thing and he used it to his advantage. He could steal things from the Death Eaters and send it to the Order with Snape.

Percy knew the Professor was playing the same game he was. Snape was gone half the time at Hogwarts, but it didn't matter; Percy was better at sneaking information. He had lived with the twins after all.

He heard things Snape would never have heard. He saw things Snape would never tell Dumbledore about. He took beatings when he was caught and healed himself later.

Percy learned how to copy Snape's handwriting and snuck those letters in to be sent to his family. Things Snape wouldn't give up he forged. If he was going to die a "Death Eater" he was going to do his damn best to make sure his family lived.

He hoped that if he did die, Snape would pass on word of what happened. How he ended up in this situation and why he was who he was. Percy often wondered if Snape had already told them.

Snape wouldn't have told them that Percy was forced into being a Death Eater. He'd say Percy chose it on his own. That's what Percy assumed. He never did anything to Snape while he was at Hogwarts but his siblings had. And Ron was best friends with Harry. Maybe Snape would lie to get back at Harry in his own twisted way.

Percy would never know for sure since he never got the chance to ask the older man.

* * *

"We need the boy to fetch these documents," Bellatrix said gaily. Percy assumed she was excited to throw him to the wolves.

"Send him in," Voldemort replied in his snake-like voice. It was textured like sandpaper and every time he spoke, it sent shivers down Percy's spine.

They went over the plan with him. Bellatrix would lightly run her nails over him. Through his hair, over his arms, down his back. It took everything in him not to squirm. He knew that's why she did it; Bellatrix lived for reactions.

Voldemort's dead eyes lazily watched it all unfold. For once in his life, Percy wished he was like his siblings. That he had the strength to sneak away, to refuse, to fight.

It always confused him that he ended up wearing red and gold at Hogwarts and not blue and bronze. He didn't deserve to be categorized with the brave and fearless. Maybe that's why he gravitated towards Penelope. She was everything he wanted to be but failed at. It's why he pushed Oliver, Charlie, and Ginny away. They were everything he couldn't be.

Caring.

Fearless.

Leaders.

Characteristics he'd never hear about himself. He idolized Charlie growing up. Charlie made sure to include him when Bill wouldn't. Oliver stuck around him their first year despite Percy's terrible attitude. And Ginny understood Percy was different, and while she thought the twins' pranks were funny, it didn't mean she hated Percy. He recognized that.

* * *

He was thrown down the flight of stairs that led to the dungeon. Pettigrew picked him up at the bottom to lock the door. Percy's right knee was bleeding and he was sure one of his fingers had broken.

They caught him stealing information and giving it away. He was in the middle of writing one of his Snape imitation letters. Thankfully they didn't catch on that he was copying Snape.

Percy wasn't sure if he'd survive this time. The usual beatings were easy to fix with lower level magic. He didn't think Mungos could revive him, not that anyone would take him there. He would die tonight. Alone. In the Malfoy Manor while the Death Eaters watched.

Percy sat in the damp cellar for Merlin knows how long. Bellatrix was out doing something for Voldemort and she had claimed the right to torture the Weasley.

Normally, she used a knife to carve his skin. She'd whip him and pour salt water over the wounds. And when Percy was on the brink of passing out, she'd leave him on the floor in the middle of the foyer.

A house elf would follow once the coast was clear to wake him up. He'd stumble to the room they forced him to stay in and start cleaning himself up. He still owned his apartment and on days he wasn't forced to come to the manor he'd stay there. It was nice to pretend for a bit that he was still normal.

Once Percy began to feel faint from the lack of food or water, Pettigrew appeared. He wasn't there to help Percy but to take the red-head to his doom. Percy heard Bellatrix cackling above him. Pettigrew had to pull him since Percy didn't have the will do move his feet on his own.

* * *

Percy was strapped to a chair in the middle of the dining room. Bellatrix had magicked the table away and a few Death Eaters watched him like he was the meal. The witch stood in the corner of the room watching the masked figures break Percy. Each one was allowed one hit of some kind.

Magical or physical was up to the person. Some of them used the Cruciatus curse, or they broke a bone, used the whip, whatever they could do to inflict pain they did. Bellatrix smiled evilly, drinking in her entertainment. Percy hated her more than ever.

"Let's find out exactly how deep your betrayal runs." Bellatrix walked over to him. Percy noticed the small vial full of silvery liquid in her hand. He knew the fate he was to face.

* * *

After Percy spilled everything to Bellatrix, they had beat him close to death. The witch had assumed he'd die and they would just take care of his body. So, dumbly, she had left. Percy pushed himself off the marble floor and staggered around to find a way out.

They took his wand ages ago and he had no idea what Bellatrix had done with it. Most likely she snapped it in half or sold it even if it wasn't worth more than a Knut.

He hoped one of the Death Eaters was stupid enough to leave their wand lying about, but he didn't see any. Not in the dining room that was. Percy was dripping blood everywhere leaving a trail to his whereabouts. It was now or never.

The foyer had a fire place. It was linked up to the floo system, but he knew they could trace it. It wasn't like anyone on the floo network would take him in, anyway. Maybe he could convince someone in Diagon Alley to help him? Hadn't the twins opened a shop? He had gotten wind of that at the Ministry.

Percy walked over to the large ornate door and pushed it open, praying that it wouldn't squeak or an army of Death Eaters awaited on the other side.

"I can help," a meek voice said while tugging on his bloodied pant leg.

Percy looked down at the house elf whose name he didn't know and probably would never learn.

"I can Apparate you somewhere."

"I can't," Percy hacked up some blood, "I can't ask you to do that for me."

"I want to."

* * *

Percy sent the house elf back the moment they arrived at his chosen destination. He didn't want the small creature to pay for helping him. The sooner magic was away the less likely someone would notice the unordinary.

Percy honestly didn't know why he was standing where he was. Percy described the place the best he could to the house elf. He hoped that no one would get in trouble for this.

It was a Muggle hospital. He'd seen it a few times when he had walked around London, and he was glad his memory still worked fine. Percy walked through the doors labeled "Emergency room" and the whole waiting room gasped.

A nurse began to babble out some questions before he fainted onto the linoleum floor.

* * *

Percy recovered without anyone showing up to kill him again, and his apartment seemed untouched. He took a back route to reach it and entered it by climbing up the escape ladder. He gathered important things and left to find a safer place to live.

He wouldn't be able to take money out of Gringotts for a while; thankfully, he had money stashed away (both wizard and Muggle). He'd go to a smaller town and start a Muggle job and try to live in peace until he felt safe enough to go  _home._

He longed for his mother's home cooked meals, the twins' pranks, Ginny's laugh, Ron's ability to eat. He missed it all.

* * *

Colors shot from wands. Things exploded. Stone fell from the ceiling. Hogwarts was under attack.

Death Eaters filed in and shot whoever was in their way. Brave students tried to hold them back, and Percy ran around trying to find his family.

His peaceful life had been disturbed when he popped into Diagon Alley in disguise. Percy needed some money from his account and thought he could risk it. Rumors about the coming battle made their way to him and he immediately fled to help.

Percy still remembered the corridors of the ancient castle from his prefect days. He avoided the good guys and the bad. He slipped past, invisible, just like he had when he was a student. It was how he had caught so many of his classmates after hours.

A flash of red hair surprised him. Percy's eyes widened as he realized what would unfold in front of him. Fred stood face to face with a Death Eater. Ron, Harry, and Hermione stood to the side. Fred had his left arm out holding them back. He was distracted; the Death Eater was not.

Percy did something that was so incredibly stupid it would have made Godric Gryffindor weep.

"Fred!" Percy screamed while positioning his wand. "Move!"

His brother moved to protect the trio. Percy moved forward while simultaneously casting a spell to knock the Death Eater unconscious. The masked figure fell to the floor with a thump and Percy felt oddly satisfied.

"Percy?" It was Ron who spoke. "We thought you were dead."

"Snape told us everything," Fred added softly. "I'm proud of your Perce. For doing that."

"I didn't do anything." Percy felt ashamed. He could have done more.

"You did do something," Fred stepped closer. "You proved to us that you weren't a bigoted asshole who only cared about rules and order."

Fred's smile showed Percy that the twin was joking a bit. Percy didn't know how to respond since the words that came from Fred's mouth were something he had always wanted to hear.

"We judged you unfairly and you turned out to braver than most of us," Fred continued. "I don't think I could ever do anything like that."

* * *

The months that followed the battle were difficult. Everyone struggled with a loss of some sort. Percy, on the other hand, was able to come home. His mother welcomed him with open arms and his siblings asked him questions about his "Death Eater" days.

"I heard there is a place that can remove it," Fred mentioned at dinner one night while pointing to Percy's Dark Mark.

"That might be a rumor, dear," Molly said and then directed towards Percy, "You shouldn't get your hopes up."

"I won't. Besides, I don't need this removed to prove that I'm good. I don't care about what others think; as long as my family knows who I am then nothing else matters."

For the first time, Percy felt like he truly belonged. His heart was happy as he sat surrounded by his family. They accepted him even after everything he did, and he couldn't ask for anything more.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on my Fanfiction.net page  
> https://www.fanfiction.net/u/5665438/BetterYouThanMe


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